1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a subject observation apparatus and a subject observation method, and more particularly to a subject observation apparatus and a subject observation method for observing a subject based on a modulated light obtained by modulating a scattered light from the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
Techniques have been conventionally proposed for detecting a scattering angle distribution of a return light from a subject and observing a state of the subject based on the scattering angle distribution. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 11-258167 discloses a technique for a method of inspecting a defection in a glass tube. In the technique, a laser light is almost vertically irradiated onto an outer surface or an inner surface of a glass tube to detect intensity and angle distribution of a scattering light caused by the laser light reflected from the glass tube, and based on the detected intensity and angle distribution of the scattering light, the defection size of the glass tube is determined and a bubble streak is discriminated from an extraneous substance.
Meanwhile, techniques have been conventionally proposed for observing a state of capillary vessels in the vicinity of a mucosa surface layer. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-341078 discloses a biological observation apparatus having a configuration for generating a narrowband spectral image in which structure of capillary vessels of a mucosa surface layer is highlighted.